Marathon man plans to continue

12:00pm Thursday 9th November 2006

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ACTION man Gus McKechnie has completed the latest in a series of gruelling challenges in memory of his brother.

The intrepid Dorchester man hopes to run, walk, row, cycle and swim four million metres as part of the challenge to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

He has already completed a number of challenges this year including the London Marathon and a parachute jump.

Now he has joined thousands of runners to compete in the prestigious New York Marathon and finished the challenge in just under five hours.

Mr McKechnie, 31, decided to compete in the events in memory of his brother Andrew who died in 2003 from haemchromatosis.

Haemchromatosis is a genetic condition which causes the blood to produce too much iron and leads to organ failure.

The threat of the disease has failed to stop Mr McKechnie from pushing himself to the limit though a viral infection has stopped him from completing some of the other challenges he had hoped to achieve this year.

But he says on his website that he is determined to keep on going next year and meet his goal.

"I will be covering a lot of miles and I hope to raise £24,000 in the process," he said.

Half the money will go towards the Children's Hospice Association with the rest being split between the Steve Redgrave Trust, The Lisa Wilson Scholar-ship Fund, the Helen Rollason Heal Cancer Charity and the GB Adaptive Trust, which supports rowers with disabilities. Mr McKechnie's mum Judy, also of Dorchester, said: "He's done a lot this year. I am very proud of him."

She urged anyone interested in sponsoring him to visit www. justgiving.com